teens are fun you know, not monsters(come post your nice stuff)

[smoking2shoes]

fed up with the "omg a teen will stab me dramatics"
on monday dd had to have an operation(sn)
her 17yr old brother came to visit her with his friend(a girl) they stayed an hour and made her day.
he has another friend, who if you saw in the street would look scarey(mohican and all in black) yet whenever he comes to the house he comes in to show dd his hair, even though he knows she will lol

My Ds1 will be 17 this Christmas, I am so proud of how he has turned out!
I had him when I was only 16 and I think I have done very very well for a "teenage mum"!

He is growing his hair and has a pierced face but he is kind, considerate,polite and friendly.
Alot of the lads where we live are all into hanging around aimlessly, messing about on those mini-motos etc.

Ds see his friends, spends time with his girlfriend (who is not stick thin with bleached hair and orange skin, Yay!!)

I am just proud of the fact that he is his "own" person, and feels no need to follow the crowd, iykwim!

I don't have my own kids yet but I'm doing a PGCE at secondary level and everything that's been said strikes a chord. Of course there are those that are closer to the stereotype, but they're a tiny minority and also they genuinely tend to be the ones with the most hurdles to living a happy and fulfilling life.

Teenagers are hilarious. They can say and do things that adults cannot, since they are still experimenting and finding their way and they do it with such great panache. There's a heart-warming article in today's guardian on the very subject.

DP abd I both teach teenagers. They are lovely, ebergetic, thoughful, sometimes wrong and oten naive and frustrating, but generally wonderful young people. This is a grest thread - we should do more to celebrate teenagers!

My DS is 12(and a half!), and is lovely. He's gone to school this morning to help out on their open day. Last week he helped out at a charity jumble sale, he's fab and I love the bones of him!

DD2 19 went of to uni in September. She is always bery pleasant and chatty when I phone. She could be very annoying when she as at home but she oftened helped her froends with things. She was also concerned after I had a tooth out and asked me if I was all right and made me drinks. DD1 is now 22 marries and a mature young woman. When FIL was in hospital she was very concerned and always asked how he was. She and her DH went to visit him when he went home. DD3 17 always talks to us and she always tells us whre she is going and who she is going with.
OUr cat is very ill at the moment and being treated at the vets. All three of them are concerned about her.

My ds is 12 he has his moments but is on the whole lovely and I am always getting comments from others about how ovely he is.

MY DBRO is 18 and he will do my gardening school run or whatever you ask him to do at teh drop of a hat. My personal favourite was when he told my Mum to shut up when she moaned about the fact I was bf my 2 week old. He then went on to tell my mum about the benefits of bf which I had been chatting to him about the day before.

MY SIL is 17 and is such a good role model to my girls she is at college and doing a part time job. She has all the time in the world for you and will spend hours with my girls.

When I was having the new baby my sil and dbro both came here at 2am and looked after my other dc. I was in hospital for a full day and they had done the gardening and cleaned the house, walked the dog and taken the dc out for some food and a play in the park.
DSIL also fetched a gorgeous meat and potato pie so we didn't have to cook.

What a wonderful thread. So enjoying my DC's and was stupidly fearing the teenage years but you've all given me hope.

I have a 20 year old DS and a 13 year old DD and wouldn't change either of them.
DD made me laugh yesterday with her and her friend's inventiveness.
DD and her friend bought a pair of cheap Ugg type boots. Her friend used fabric in the printer and printed off 2 sets of Ugg bott labels. She then covered them with nail varnish, sewed round the edges with a sewing machine and superglued them on to their cheap boots.
They now have fake Ugg boots. Not bad for 2 13 year olds.

I am loving having a teen.
I had no experience of children before having my own and so my knowledge of children has generally been limited to the age of my own IYSWIM.The whole baby thing was a terrifying new phase for me.

I remember years ago when mine were tiny and the idea of older kids terrified me, a colleague left work to teach at a secondary school. She said she found teenagers fascinating and I thought she was mad..

I'm starting to see what she meant. Yes there are bad hormone days but all of the other stuff is so new. The blossoming adult personality , wakening interest in the opposite sex and first forays into love.
Suddenly the learning curve is steep again but I feel more relaxed about it, most of the time.

GOD I ADORE TEENAGERS

there
am out and proud.
I odnt know if i will like my own os much....

My girls are 4 and 2 so teenagedom is a long way off for me, but this thread his me in tears and I'm no fearing it quite so much anymore

I'm 17 and this thread has made me smile so much. I hate the looks I get often, because I'm a teen. But this has just made my day to think not everybody expects me to be horrid.

My teen is one of the funniest people I know ..bless him

I teach at secondary school so spend most of my life surrounded by teenagers and think that they are honest (most of them), funny, sympathetic, curious and polite. I can´t always say the same about my collegues

Fantastic thread, thank you. My three are under five atm so I can't contribute but I am looking forward to times like these.

Dinnertime chez Clam last week.

DH: Whose turn is it to clear up? Mum shopped, I cooked.....
DS: (13) I'll do it.
DD: (11) No, I will.
DS: No, I will. I haven't done it for ages.
Clam:

Surely the best thing about teenagers is that they sleep a lot and have long lie-ins at the weekend? Can you tell I have a young baby who won't sleep?

BettyTurnip I also clicked on this thinking it was about the best band in the world.

However as it's not can I just add that I've found the people most likely to help me up the stairs at the station with a pushchair are teenagers. Usually boys. Often with hoods on their tops

I don't have teenagers but i do teach them and they really are a rewarding bunch - they have all this potential and they don't realise how fantastic they are.

Watching a teenager grow up into an adult is amazing - I have the best job in the world.

I have teenagers, & past teenagers, & I love them all, they are divine. And having them around keeps you in touch with - society, I suppose, in a way that would be impossible without them.

The Guardian today has a fabulous feature (only boys though, sorry, but I know girls can be just as lovely )

Another one here who works with teenagers and is told contstantly, "I don't know how you can stand it, I couldn't do it!"

I love 'em.

Often the most difficult part of the day is keeping a straight face when they are being cheeky.

My DS1 is 9 and he is the closest thing to a Kevin type I have met. Am hoping he'll be a lovely teen.

Today is my DSis's 18th birthday and I took DD (13mo) up to see her and to finish off Dsis's birthday cake. I arrived to 4 17/18 year olds (boys and girls) who made me a cuppa, then offered to take DD for a walk to see the sheep. They brought her back 30mins later made us all lunch and then took DD to play in the sitting room so she could 'help' set up for the party. Giving me cake time and time for a short nap too. She is FAB and gives teenagers a good name!